The ultimate warranty replacement...

[ragingfish]

So my parents brought their GP in for service today. They were having a heating problem. Again.You may recall I asked for advice on an unrelated problem in the same car a few months ago:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=6195Well, here's the deal. They've had the car in several times for heat problems. Never seems to get hot enough. Turns out, in a series of engines, they were manufactured poorly. Metal shavings allegedly got into the heater core during manufacture, and over time clog it up. The dealer keeps cleaning it out, but the core just clogs up again in a few months.Well, seeing how this was our fourth visit for the same problem...The dealer worked some magic, and Pontiac is replacing, completely covered under warranty, the entire ENGINE of the car. That's right, the 'rents are getting a brand spankin' new engine, under warranty, free of charge, at no cost, yadda yadda yadda.I think that's pretty damn cool.I asked if they'd give me the old one to drop in the Vibe...I didn't need heat that badly...they laughed.

[cohocarl]

What year, and which engine is it?

[ragingfish]

Not positive, but I believe it is a 2000 with the 3100 SFI V6

[Nervous_Dog]

Good deal. Normally even with all the problems, you'd have to fight a dealership to do something as extensive as that. It's great to hear a good dealership story for once.

[ragingfish]

Our dealership is AMAZING.They go outta their way to help us out.They eliminated $700 off my body work bill...just like that. Eliminated.Amazing people.Any Jerseyans, I HIGHLY recommend Rassas Pontiac on Broad Street in Red Bank.

[Jahntassa]

Raging,Ask them if they know how to put video into the Navigation screen on the Vibe. I will be there in a HEARTBEAT.

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »Raging,Ask them if they know how to put video into the Navigation screen on the Vibe. I will be there in a HEARTBEAT.Hmm...I don't think so man...they don't tend to involve themselves with audio and entertainment systems...They try to stay focused on mechanical and electrical stuff. But I can ask anyway.

[Stang2Vibe]

They didn't try replacing the heater core first? I would think that would be the next thing they tried after cleaning it out didn't work. A heater core is much cheaper than a 3.1 SFI V6.

[ragingfish]

They replaced it twice. The metal shavings kept resurfacing.GM admitted it was a manufacturing defect.

[Stang2Vibe]

Wow, I'll say! Sounds more like a defect in the motor, not how it was installed! Seems that the motor keeps making shavings and depositing them into the cooling system. I'm surprised it hasn't clogged up the radiator or some of the small passages inside the engine block already. Well anyway, it's great to hear that they are backing up their product and going the extra mile to take care of a customer.And I've got the ultimate warranty replacement story for ya. A guy I work with has an early 90's GMC Jimmy that he bought used. It's in very nice shape for its' age and having over 100,000 miles on it. He was driving it and something went wrong and all the oil leaked out of it and he didn't know it. Well, the engine blew and it died on the side of the road. He had purchased a warranty on it when he bought the car used. It was still under warranty when the motor went, so they replaced the 4.3L V6 with a new one completely under warranty. They tried to replace it with a rebuilt 4.3, but one could not be located at the time, so they had to order a brand new crate motor to replace it with. A dealer even performed the work when the motor came in. Now that is the ultimate warranty replacement.